Crossing Swords With Sprint PCS

By consumerist.comJune 6, 2006

Gregg wasn’t paying attention. Slowly, every so surely, his Sprint bill had crept up until it was charging him $100 for a data service he never used. After four months of inattention and automatic credit-card bill payments, his overpayment mounted to over $800. The low-level CSR argued with Greg that it was his fault so he leapfrogged her and did battle with the supervisor. We’re making it sound more exciting than it really is, after all, Greg says in his intro:

Maybe too boring for you, but here is my story of good customer service. If by “good” you mean “not awful.

We did just yesterday say how good we wanted to bath positive company stories in molten gold. This one deserves, perhaps, brass. Mixed with tin. But it’s got lessons in it, and we know how much you guys like to learn., after the jump…

Greg writes:

“Maybe too boring for you, but here is my story of good customer service. If by “good” you mean “not awful.”

Everyone always complains about Sprint. Yesterday, despite the fact that I should have never been put in the situation, and despite having to through one idiot Customer service rep, and despite being chastised by the second rep, they gave me what I wanted without argument. Woohoo!

I have used Sprint since 1999. I pay 39.99 a month for more minutes than I need, plus 15 dollars a month for text messages and internet, which for some reason they call “Vision.” I never use the internet anymore, and usually use about 300 minutes. What can I say, I don’t like phones. I also hate paying bills, so I signed up for Sprint’s offer to just charge my credit card, and I never actually open the bill. I also dont really read my credit card bills, setting myself up for this, and other disasters. I know, I know. So yesterday, I opened up the bill and noticed that Sprint was charging me, NOT $15 for Sprint Vision, but $100 for “Data.” So I call them, and ask them for the totals for my last 4 bills. Imagine my surprise to learn that last month I paid $375!!! Hundreds a month for the last four months!!!! THe total overcharges were almost $800.

Me: Why are you charging me for data? I pay $15 a month for unlimited Vision.
Rep: THat’s your plan.
Me: That’s not my plan. I pay $15 a month.
Rep: But the PLan you’re on charges you 2cents a byte.
Me: No, it doesn’t. I dont even know what a byte is.
Rep: YEs, it says right here.
Me: I never agreed to that.
Rep: Yes, that’s your Plan.

At that point, I wised up and realized I wasn’t ever going to get anywhere with her. So I ask for a Supervisor. On hold for 7 minutes.

Latrice then comes on, and I ask her to pull up my bills. I asked her to compare December (15 a month) with January (200+). Why, I ask her, would I ever agree to go from something that is 15 dollars a month and I never use, to sometheing that is hundreds a month that I never use. “Hmmmm….” and then I actually heard the sound of her brain working and universes collapsing. I then said, “Let me tell you what I want. I want all Data Charges refunded, and then you can Charge me $15 a month for 4 months.” She then chastised me for cutting her off, and said, “That is what I am going to do.”

Lessons Learned:
1. Read your bills.
2. Save time. If the first rep sounds as dumb as you’d expect her to be, just ask for someone higher.
3: Tell them what you want and be quiet until they agree or disagree.

Total time: 15 minutes. Total “payoff”: $700.+

My boyfrend’s response to this story was to comment on how awful Sprint is. I don’t get it. They made a mistake, and then they made it right.”

The thought of having to call Sprint for ANYthing makes me want to slit my wrists. When they were partners with USAA, I could call the USAA/Sprint number and receive excellent customer service. However, this is no longer an option.

I happened to call a local Sprint store one day where an employee was generous with information. He gave me a Sprint customer service number that I’ve used ever since. It’s for long-time customers (a year or more) and if your account is in good standing, you’re treated like royalty. The number is 800-673-3130. I’ve never had any problems with anyone at this number.

My Sprint bill was creeping up as well. Found out they added Vision and text message to my account after I canceled it. I canceled it again, but only got a refund for the current month … not worth trying to get it back for the previous months. Sprint sucks, but not as bad Cingular/ATT.
I also wanted a phone numbers of the incoming calls ’cause I used quite a few minutes the last few months. Sprint says it was against the law (Federal) to print the incoming phone numbers. Is this true? They said if I wanted a specific number I had to go through some special department. Maybe Sprint is scamming me on the incoming minutes.

Sprint PCS’s customer service is awful. I worked in a call center at a bank–when my boss got fired for stealing money from he went to Sprint PCS. I went to a job fair at Sprint PCS once–people laughed at me for wearing a suit.

Sprint customer service is just horrible. I am into my 5th month of 2 year contract, and thinking maybe it is better to pay $200 cancellation fee and deal someplace else, and it would still save me a lot of money. NEVER NEVER go to Sprint. Whenever I think about how I was tricked (almost scammed) into this contract, it gives me a nightmare.